


Instead of Good Bye, Good Night

by K1mHeechu1



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Character Death, Dream-related soulmates, Fluff, Growing Up Together, M/M, Minor Suh Youngho | Johnny/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27570967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K1mHeechu1/pseuds/K1mHeechu1
Summary: Jeno was 6 years old when he learned what a soulmate was.Jeno was 18 when he realised he had fallen in love. He smiled and thought that his mum had been right. Even if Jeno tried, he'd never be able to love another. He was the boy he was destined to be with for all of his life.Or: Jeno always meets his soulmate when he goes to sleep. Renjun is always there, waiting for him.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 16
Kudos: 83
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	Instead of Good Bye, Good Night

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooooooooooooooo!!  
> I certainly didn't plan on writing this fic, I planned on writing a completely different plot but alas, it ran away from me and here we are.  
> Hope you like it!!

Jeno was 4 years old the first time he realised the boy was always there when he fell asleep.

He stared curiously at him, his dark hair dancing in the wind as they sat side by side. The boy smiled at him, offering him a small flower, and he beamed back, taking it, and carefully setting it aside to avoid crushing it, before he ran away, looking back and seeing the boy chasing him.

Jeno was 6 years old when he learned what a soulmate was. His mum and dad talking about last night’s dream made him ask.

“That person you meet in your dreams is your soulmate, Jeno. They are the person that completes you, the perfect one for you.” His dad took his mum’s hand, and she smiled sweetly at him. “Even if you try, you’ll never be able to love another. They’re the person you’re destined to be with for all of your life”.

Jeno smiled. The idea of running around and playing forever with him seemed like a really good one. He made sure to give the boy an extra tight hug, which he reciprocated happily, before they both ran to the swings, racing to see who won. And if he let the boy win on purpose, he’d never tell him.

Jeno was 7 when he realised he wasn’t actually always there when he fell asleep. 3 days after his Christmas he got really, really ill. His mum was frantic when she took him to the hospital, and he had to spend about two weeks there while they fixed him. Pneumonia, they said. His mum scolded him for playing outside in December, but the snow was so pretty, he couldn’t help himself.

There was absolutely nothing to do in the hospital, so he spent most of his time sleeping. (And yes, maybe he slept because he felt awful, but he would adamantly deny it if anyone asked. He was a grown boy after all). That’s when he found out that the boy wasn’t there when he napped, but was there at night. He asked him why. He rolled his eyes.

“We only meet when both of us are sleeping, you dollop head.”

Oh.

Well, that explained it, he thought.

Jeno was 9 when he found out they didn’t live in the same country. He was sad. Really sad. He had asked if they could meet to play when they were awake. The boy smiled softly and told him that he lived in a whole another country, far away from him.

“How come your Korean is perfect, then?”

“You don’t need to be in Korea to speak Korean, dummy.”

Jeno was 10 when he realised he didn’t know his name.

“You don’t need to know my name, Nono. I know yours, and you know who I am better than I know myself. That’s enough for now.”

He believed him.

Jeno was 12 when the boy held him as he cried for the first time. He was moving to a new school without any of his friends and was terrified.

“Don’t be an idiot, Nono, you’re awesome, and friendly, and have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen in my whole life. It’s going to be okay. Everyone will want to be your friend the second they see you smile.”

_ He  _ was right.

Jeno was 13 when he realised he loved music. The boy laughed at him when he ran up to him, all smiles and loud voice.

“I already know, you idiot. You’re always humming or singing something. I bet you’re the only one who didn’t know.”

Jeno was 14 when he found out the boy was slightly older than him. It surprised him, but he didn’t hate the idea. The boy had always been extremely protective of him.

The boy had been his best friend ever since he could remember. Always there to offer a smile or a kind word. The fact that they were the same age made it even better. That meant they had always been together when they were asleep and no one had to wait years before being together— Donghyuck always told him how happy he was that he had met Johnny when he started training and that he loved his best friend to pieces and he wouldn’t change anything, other than the fact that he wished he’d been born sooner so that Johnny wouldn’t have had to spend five years alone in his dreams.

Jeno was 16 when he debuted in NCT Dream. The boy was so proud of him, so, so proud.  _ He _ had hugged him so tightly that night, allowing Jeno to tell him every little detail of his new life.

Jeno was 17 when they celebrated the fact that  _ he _ had gotten the full scholarship to the University of his dreams. He loved to remember the smile, his sweet smile, eyes sparkling with happiness, and his laugh resounding around them as he hugged him close to his body and turned around in circles. He spent the next week smiling like an idiot, and couldn’t stop talking about his genius of a soulmate, much to the exasperation of his members.

Jeno was 18 when he was finally given the style he had yearned from since they had started making them all look like they had escaped kindergarten in Chewing Gum— Now he was all eyeliner and swaggy concepts.  _ He  _ gushed about how cute he looked and how precious he was, how talented all of them were, and how his voice sounded so good, but not better than when he sang to him. Jeno flushed, knowing perfectly well that his singing needed work but still feeling warm and loved and appreciated.

Jeno was 18 when he realised he had fallen in love with the boy's warm smiles and tight hugs. Jeno smiled as he listened to him recount everything he had done that day and about how much fun he was having in class, and thought that his mum had been right. Even if Jeno tried, he'd never be able to love another. _He_ was the boy he was destined to be with for all of his life.

Jeno was 19 when he got used to seeing  _ him _ change his hair colour every month or so. His favourite was pink. He went through every single colour on the rainbow and would laugh when their hair suddenly matched when he got it done for comebacks. He bragged to his friends and members about how his soulmate’s hair constantly changed. They rolled their eyes and allowed him to get lost in his own mind, thinking about how much he wanted to run his fingers through  _ his  _ hair in real life.

Jeno was 20 when he asked _ him  _ why his hair was only a pretty pastel pink and had been that way for a couple of months.

“Don’t you like it? Wasn’t pink your favourite hair colour on me, anyway?”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts. I can’t change it then, it’s your favourite!.” And he pushed him into the snow, running away quickly, and squealing when Jeno caught up with him, swinging him around.

Jeno was 21 when he got the courage to ask  _ him _ if they could meet while they were awake. He had a concert in _ his  _ city (something he never thought would be possible, with how tight the kpop ban was in China up until that point) and would spend a couple of days there afterwards, so he stared at the boy, hopeful, but Jeno’s face fell when he saw his doubt.  _ His _ eyes watered, and  _ he _ bit his lip, but told him an address, and told him to go there the next day.

“Nono…”  _ He  _ smiled at him. “There’s something you need to know…My name… I’m Huang Renjun”

_ His  _ name.

After 17 years, Renjun had finally told him his name.

Jeno was 21 when the taxi dropped him, Johnny, who was going with him for translating purposes because Chenle had bailed on him, and Donghyuck, who was there because his boyfriend was there and he had nothing better to do and didn’t want to spend the entire day in the hotel, in front of a park.

Jeno followed Renjun’s instructions, and soon they were in a secluded part of the park, all three looking around to see if they could find him.

Jeno was 21 when he fell on his knees, eyes welling, a gasp leaving his lips.

There he was, pink hair, sweet smile, eyes that squinted with the curve of his lips.

Jeno was 21 when he realised he was never going to see Rejun while he was awake.

The stone was covered in fresh flowers, trinkets left there by a lot of people

“Beloved by everyone who knew him.

Dear son, grandson, friend

Good night like yesterday, and you will dream of me”

Jeno was 21 when his entire world fell apart.

He met Renjun a couple of hours later, after Johnny and Donghyuck were able to tear him apart from Renjun’s grave and carry him back to the hotel, tears falling down his cheeks all the while.

“You are not here anymore.”

“I am. This is the only place I will always be. You get a choice, you know? As I was dying, they gave me a choice. I could either go on and wait for us to meet in our next life, or I could live in your dreams for the rest of your life and then go to our next life together with you. I chose to stay. I know the rules, Nono. You’d been alone if I didn’t stay.”

“So you’ll always be here for me?”

“Always, I’ll be here waiting to see you, and I’ll be here to hug you as soon as you fall asleep.”

Jeno was 21 when he realised Renjun was truly gone, but still living in his dreams.

Jeno was 21 when decided he was glad he wasn’t born in a universe where no soulmates existed.

He couldn’t fathom imagining his life without his favourite dream.


End file.
